The Last of Us: A Call to Action for Edmonton’s Urban Forest By Steve Lane, BCMA
While teaching a TRAQ course in Edmonton, Alberta this past Spring, I became aware of something that as a selfdescribed “blackbelt tree geek,” made me paradoxically very excited, as well as extraordinarily concerned. Portions of Alberta and British Columbia, Edmonton in particular, are one of the last places on the North American continent that Dutch elm disease has not infiltrated. The reasons for this are many, and beyond the scope of this short article, but the fact remains, these areas were unaffected by the disease. This fungal infection, spread by beetles and through root grafts, had nearly wiped out American and Red (slippery) elms from the Urban Forests of my Illinois childhood in the 1980s. It was as if I stepped onto the scene of an unreleased “Back to the Future” sequel; an alternate reality where DED had never happened. Students were explaining that nurseries were still growing and selling cultivars of American elms I had never heard of, and these sentries of the Urban Forest were absolutely everywhere. Strange things were indeed afoot in this magical place.
"Elm Cathedral” of mature American Elms, Beverly Heights
After class each day, I wandered out into the streets with my camera, capturing image after image of a landscape long vanished from the Midwest. The “Elm Cathedral,” once a common sight but now largely absent from our landscapes, was still present in its full glory here. Row after row of these vase-shaped, highly phototropic trees arched overhead to create a majestic vaulted green ceiling as inspiring as the Sistine Chapel. Well, at least to a blackbelt tree geek, anyways. And ash trees as far as the eye could see! In the Midwest, nearly 95% of our ash population has been lost over the past 15 years. Today, spotting one of these onceubiquitous workhorses of the urban forest is rare, where once they numbered in the millions.
Neighborhood, Edmonton, AB – 9/26/2025
If you want to see a living museum of what urban forests looked like in the 1970s and 1980s, head to Edmonton. Walking the streets feels like stepping back in time forty years. Urban forestry tourism, perhaps? You heard it here first. But there is a more somber storyline emerging in E-Town. For not only was Dutch elm disease detected in the region last spring (See This Link), but emerald ash borer has also been discovered relatively close by in Winnipeg, and its arrival in the next few years is nearly certain. Two devastating pests and pathogens-normally separated by decades in time for most of us-are poised to hit Edmonton at nearly the exact same time. For any Urban Forester, this is an unfathomably bad situation.
American Society of Consulting Arborists®
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Arboricultural Consultant volume 58 issue 3 2025